Vibe
Sound awareness for the deaf, in partnership with IIT Madras
A smartwatch-form-factor wearable that detects critical environmental sounds and alerts deaf and hard-of-hearing users through vibration and visual cues. Designed-for-deaf from day one.
The sound awareness gap
Approximately 4 to 8 million Indians live with severe-to-profound hearing loss. For this population, daily life involves missing critical sounds: emergency sirens, vehicle horns in traffic, doorbells, fire alarms, and human voices, including their own name being called. Existing solutions don’t fully address this need.
Hearing aids amplify residual hearing; they do not help users with profound hearing loss who need non-auditory awareness. Mainstream wearables like the Apple Watch offer sound recognition as an accessibility feature, but they cost ₹40,000 or more, require an iPhone ecosystem, and aren’t designed for Indian sound profiles, languages, or affordability needs.
Vibe is built specifically for deaf and hard-of-hearing users in India. Designed-for-deaf from day one, Vibe converts critical sounds into instant non-auditory alerts, giving users situational awareness, faster emergency response, and greater independence.
How Vibe works
Continuous Listening
Vibe continuously listens for important sounds in the user's environment using its built-in microphone. All audio processing happens on-device, with no cloud dependency.
On-Device AI Recognition
Custom AI models identify the type of sound: sirens, fire alarms, doorbells, vehicle horns, and human voice activity, using inference that runs entirely on the watch.
Instant Multi-Modal Alerts
Detected sounds trigger an immediate vibration alert plus a clear visual indicator on the watch screen, letting the user act on the information without delay.
Designed to be worn, all day
Vibe looks like regular consumer technology, not a medical device. It blends naturally into everyday life and encourages continuous wear. For an assistive product, this matters: the best technology is the one that the user actually wears, all the time, without self-consciousness.
Privacy-preserving
All inference on-device, no audio leaves the watch
All-day battery
Continuous listening without compromising battery life
Standalone
Works without requiring a paired premium phone
Vibe is built in partnership
CurioNext is taking Vibe to market with a partnership-led distribution model that works through Disabled People’s Organizations, schools for the deaf, and assistive-technology NGOs. We are also pursuing inclusion in the Indian government’s ADIP scheme (Assistance to Disabled Persons for Purchase/Fitting of Aids/Appliances) for large-scale distribution.
Want to be part of Vibe’s launch?
Vibe is being deployed through partnerships with disabled people’s organizations, schools for the deaf, and assistive-tech foundations. If you represent an organization serving the deaf community and would like to be part of the pilot, or if you’d like to support Vibe’s development through CSR or grants, get in touch.